Info
Who: The Tree of Life Workshop
Where: Casa Santa Rosa, Rome
What: Therapeutic activity
Since: Five days a week, since 1988
Soap-making transforms the harvest from the facility's community garden into something tangible and beautiful. It sharpens specific skills. The women choose their daily task based on weather, mood, and orders. Some pick seasonal flowers and fruits at their peak—learning to judge the perfect moment of bloom or ripeness, to leave behind rose buds that still grace the garden, to reject blooms too faded to smell sweet. Others sort the harvest by color and scent. Still others select mold shapes, choose dyes to add.
The finished soap must be lovely. Careful hands wrap each bar in cellophane, tie ribbons, tuck in dried flowers, affix a label. The staff takes pride in this final presentation—they know that a beautiful product builds a real connection between the woman who made it and the person who buys it.
Thanks to
Alessandra, Maria, Benedetta, Grazia, Lauretta, Manuela, Giusy, Sandra, Paola, Rita, Ilaria, Nadia, Barbara, Daniela, Eugenia, Cristina, Anna, Lucia, Beatrice, Carmelina, Isabella, Giamaica.
You Will Need
- Flowers, herbs, edible plants, fruits—anything fragrant or colorful (roses, lavender, oranges, lemons, rosemary, thyme)
- Glycerin, available online or at art supply stores (alternatively, lye soap base, though it requires proper ventilation)
- Essential oils for deeper scent (from a health food store)
- Dyes for color (art supply store)
- Large and small molds, ideally silicone (easier to release)
- Electric hotplate and two small pots of different sizes
- Food dehydrator (inexpensive models work fine)
- Drying space for finished soaps
- Wrapping materials
Method
Gather your materials. Sort by color and scent. Dry for one day.
Melt the glycerin in a double boiler using one of the pots.
Glycerin is naturally white, opaque, or clear. Add dye to change the color. Add essential oil to match—about 4–5 drops per 300 ml of glycerin—choosing a scent that pairs well with your flowers or fruits.
Place small pieces of dried flowers or fruit in the molds. Pour the warm glycerin over them. Small soaps set in about 2 hours; larger ones take 4. After a day or two of complete drying, wrap and label as you wish.
Enjoy the work. Have fun.